Automatic handling equipment for metal cylinders is known which includes various means to orient said cylinders with the cylindrical axis in a vertical direction, and it is further known to accomplish this objective with a moving gas stream, generally air. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,326,350 discloses a lamp bulb handling device utilizing a mesh conveyor belt which carries randomly oriented glass bulbs and through which a column of air is blown to properly orient the bulbs for pickup by a second conveyor belt. Another U.S. Pat. No. 2,904,162 patent employs air jet means to orient lamp bases of a cylindrical construction in the vertical direction while these articles are being fed to lamp assembly apparatus.
Still other material handling equipment is known which include means to shape various type articles while the articles are being transported by the equipment. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,925,053 there is disclosed a dough shaping and conveying apparatus which utilizes two conveyor belts driven at different speeds. Dough is fed between the two belts and shaped into balls while being conveyed by a gripping action exerted between the moving belts members. A different material handling apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,582,491 which includes means to straighten round rods or tubes by passage between a stationary belt and a moving belt. The articles are fed between the two belts where they are rolled and conveyed forward to provide the straightening action. The particular rods or tubes being straightened in this manner are plastic material which is fed to said equipment while still warm and flexible in order to retain the straightened condition when cooled to a state of hardness.